Each month, Quench looks at a different director’s selected filmography. We take a look at Richard Linklater┬áfor MarchÔÇÖs online feature.
Born in Houston Texas, Richard Linklater came to filmmaking later than some. He discovered filmmaking as his creative art form around his early twenties, initially writing short stories and plays. LinklaterÔÇÖs early films and many of his larger subsequent releases are often situated in and around his base of Austin Texas and the people that live there.
In content and in style Linklater has always been an individual filmmaker. He was a key figure in the 80ÔÇÖs/90ÔÇÖs bloom of independent filmmakers and from the start has used unusual narrative structures and styles that that could be labelled be labelled experimental. However LinklaterÔÇÖs films always maintain an accessibility that has often reached that of a mainstream audience, and from his second release Linklater was also able to navigate the world of Hollywood film studios.
His films are very much about people, and all his films have a positive, philosophical outlook; an optimism about the potential of human interaction. Even in his largest and most popular releases, he still maintains that distinctive laid-back optimism that defines all of his films.
Beau Beakhouse
Before Sunrise (1995)
Before Sunrise is the story of Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), who meet by chance on a train in Vienna. They begin to talk and discover a potential connection and on the spur of the moment Jesse asks Celine to get off the train and spend the day with him in Vienna before his flight out back to America the next morning.
The first in what became a trilogy of films, each separated by nine years, Linklater created an understated masterpiece. Jesse and CelineÔÇÖs characters are fully developed, and their complexity is allowed to come through in LinklaterÔÇÖs long takes. Nothing is hidden behind cinematic tricks, and none of the beauty is added by superficial means. The conversation between the two and the time they spend together captures the connection between two people and is a beautiful example of LinklaterÔÇÖs style of naturalism, honesty and great beauty.
Beau Beakhouse
Slacker (1991)
ÔÇ£Slackers might look like the left-behinds of society, but they are actually one step ahead, rejecting most of society and the social hierarchy before it rejects themÔÇØ. This quote by writer and director Richard Linklater is a reflection of the dissatisfaction felt by generation x of whom the film and title Slacker┬áis referencing. The film itself echoes the general sentiments of a generation placed in a relatively stable society of which they donÔÇÖt want to change, whilst simultaneously being left in a state of torpor and a feeling that they have no place in that society; and thus are unable, on an individual level, to be a part of that stability. Hence, ÔÇÿSlackersÔÇÖ (was it not obvious or something?). Communicating this however is where things start to become refreshingly unorthodoxÔǪ
Slacker┬áutilises fluid transitions from one character to another, never spending more than a few minutes on an individual or group before we move onto another person of interest, usually within the same frame and in turn a new mini-narrative. At the discovery of this you would assume that the film would have the potential to feel disjointed and unorganised. However Linklater manages to craft this eclectic mixture of narratives into something that, whilst feeling aimless, nevertheless grabs your attention in a most eccentric manner and leaves you privy to intriguing conversations and scenarios that happen within this 90ÔÇÖs grounded Austin Texas. This can range from all manner of things, from murder by hit and run to a young man with his dude-like, generation x American accent explaining how a video image of an event is superior to the actual event itselfÔǪ whilst wearing a television on his backÔǪyeah.
One particular moment that amused me was when I gained access to a conversation between two hippie-like students who look like a gen-x variant of Jeff Goldblum and singer Mick Hucknall from Simply Red. I watched contently like a fly on the wall as they discussed the negative morals and values being instilled into children through ÔÇÿScooby-DooÔÇÖ, equating Scooby-Snacks to bribery and I couldnÔÇÖt help but feel like they had a point. They then go out and bring the big guns of semi-intellectual, bullshit small talk when they discuss ÔÇÿThe SmurfsÔÇÖ as representative of a restrictive family unit and SOMEHOW link it to the Hindu deity, Krishna. These gents were clearly philosophy post-grads or had simply achieved enlightenment over the course of drinking their cold brewskis – or maybe both.
Whilst the overall narrative is stitched together by many different sub-narratives, I was more than willing to let myself get lost in this seemingly aimless story and the city in which it all takes place. If you need any more convincing on whether or not to watch this film, then just know that this little independent drama/comedy has been selected for preservation in the National Film Registry as being ÔÇ£culturally, historically or aesthetically significantÔÇØ. Impressive huh? Now go watch it.
Oliver Leigh
Waking Life (2001)
In Waking Life,┬áLinklater’s first animated film, we follow an┬áunnamed man that explores the dream state, and its hazy boundaries┬áand rules. First embracing the characters he meets and the occurrences within it, he soon finds┬áhimself in a┬áperpetual dream. After repeated false awakenings, he begins an existential effort to understand it all.
The film flits through conversations the protagonist is either observing or part of, listening passively, about all things from metaphysics to the meaning of life and eventually to the process of lucid dreaming. These conversations are so real, so casual yet so intriguing and full of provocative thoughts that you want to commit them all to memory just to think about them later; but it all just passes. Scenes keep moving onto the next, like interesting dreams that you can’t seem to remember for longer than a few minutes. By the end of the film, you come away with hundreds of thoughts that have splintered off from the conversations you’ve heard but can’t seem to place them – you can’t seem to form them into tangible memories of what you were thinking exactly.┬áIn this sense,┬áWaking Life┬ámanages to emulate the experience of dreaming. With its rotoscope animation style,┬áabsorbing┬áconversations and sparse narrative line, Waking Life┬álulls you into a state where you let all these ideas pass through your mind and just experience them.
There are so few directors that can achieve something as beautiful as┬áWaking Life. This film is an underrated example of cinema that manipulates the medium to its full potential, transporting the audience into another state of mind, the┬ácharacter’s head, and maybe even┬áto a time in your own past when you thought about the things discussed. We often talk about art producing a response in its viewer, and the works of Richard Linklater almost certainly do.
Sadia Pineda Hameed
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Based on Philip K. DickÔÇÖs novel of the same name, A Scanner Darkly┬áopens telling audiences the film is set ÔÇÿseven years from nowÔÇÖ. LinklaterÔÇÖs choice of wording for the opening text that establishes audiences is important, as rather than providing a specific date to place us in ÔÇô like, for example, November 2019 in Los Angeles ÔÇô this future is a future that always has the possibility to be, an interesting premise in a film that declares statements such as ÔÇÿthis is a world getting progressively worseÔÇÖ and ÔÇÿitÔÇÖs easy to win, anyone can win.ÔÇÖ For audiences, the tone is immediately set as we realise at any point in time of watching this film ÔÇô be it tomorrow or ten years from now ÔÇô this is a future that could still come true, and is in fact true and very real for people in the present day. Linklater is not concerned with presenting a universal dystopian world, despite what the ÔÇÿvague blurÔÇÖ bodysuits would have you believe, but instead a personal dystopian world ÔÇô one within your brain that could happen at any moment due to addiction or loss or loneliness.
Yet, despite heavy topics such as drug addiction and a loss of self, Linklater, who also wrote A Scanner DarklyÔÇÖs screenplay, allows the original humour from DickÔÇÖs novel to come through, particularly in the form of Robert Downey Jr. and Woody HarrelsonÔÇÖs characters, James and Ernie. This humour allows A Scanner Darkly to stay clear of the melodramatic tone it so easily could have ended up in, and instead comes to almost feel like an Americanised, David Foster Wallace-penned version of Danny Boyle’s┬áTrainspotting. In fact, LinklaterÔÇÖs visual irony has a part to play in this as from the opening of the film audiences see the juxtaposition of a clean dog and a human with fleas, with this turning into a reference to Hitchcock’s┬áPsycho┬áas the fleas swirl down the drain ÔÇô this characterÔÇÖs (Charles Freck, played by Rory Cochrane) addiction is in his blood, and Linklater is showcasing that through mainstream, cultural and commercial references. Later, in the main character Bob ArctorÔÇÖs (Keanu Reeves) house, the American flag hangs in their kitchen, a constant reminder of the America these characters have allowed in, as well as a mocking of the commercialised, superficial and consumer obsessed world America has the potential to become, if it hasnÔÇÖt already become this (*insert bad TRUMPet orchestra playing the national anthem*).
Another important use of visuals that showcase the directorÔÇÖs confidence in his style is when Arctor is being told the left and right side of his brain are basically split in two and are fighting. When the scientists/doctors/sterile people are telling Arctor this, Linklater places Arctor centre frame with one doctor on the left and the other on the right, and when audiences are given close ups of them we they remain in a position that showcase their right-and-left-split. Here, Linklater is teasing audiences into ArctorÔÇÖs eventual breakdown as he is taking ArctorÔÇÖs internal, destroyed world into the external world, with this external world being the most important in terms of LinklaterÔÇÖs style.
A Scanner Darkly was first shot digitally, and then animated using Rotoshop using interpolated rotoscope, which basically means the animators traced over the live-action shots of the actors frame-by-frame. LinklaterÔÇÖs choice to animate the film is important, as itÔÇÖs reminiscent of the ÔÇÿvague blurÔÇÖ bodysuit Arctor and his colleagues wear ÔÇô there is something recognisable and human within the animation, but thereÔÇÖs still a feeling of detachment (if I were smart enough I would quote a line from Freud on the uncanny right now). This choice of animation style, then, is perhaps to reflect the world Arctor and the others see ÔÇô a world once known to them, but is now somehow, for some reason unrecognisable.
Sinead McCausland
Boyhood (2014)
On the face of it, Boyhood is film about the journey of a young boy that follows his life from his early years to when he graduates high school and goes to college; but, in reality, it is much more than that.
Shot over the course of twelve years, so that the cast will remain the same, the film is as ambitious and original as the idea of keeping the same actors and following the development of their lives. That same ambition and originality brought the movie numerous awards and nominations including an Oscar for best supporting actress, three Golden Globe awards and two BAFTA awards.
Presenting the life of a boy from a middle class American family, the film┬áfollows┬áhis┬áseparated parents and older sister as they grow and pass numerous milestones in life. The mother begins her journey as a single parent of two children at the age of 23 and struggling with a ÔÇÿparade of drunken husbandsÔÇÖ, and the father begins as a wannabe musician┬áand distant father. As the film progresses, we see them grow into people far different from the ones they began as.┬áAs for the children, even though the cast remains the same for the whole film,┬ásometimes the viewer can easily question if those are the same kids, inevitably realizing how quickly time changes, and other times it is only the change in haircut that hints that some time has passed since the last shot.
Although the film┬ágives an insight into the main characterÔÇÖs life, offering his perspective on love, family and the purpose of it all, more often than not, the viewer is bound to question the problems that the others around him are facing. Giving a different perspective on ultimate life-choices, Boyhood┬áquestions everything from the necessity of finding a partner, to creating a family, to the meaning of life.
Dimana Markova